Finding Her Way
by rhysmeyersfan
Summary: Emily McCallister is the only teenger on the island full of adults who try and control everything, including her. That is until she meets Derek.
1. The Crash

**Note:** This story is mostly based on my little character creation, Emily. I always thought that they should have had a teenager on the show from the start, so I decided to write for one. There is also another new teen, Derek. The story begins in the Pilot and goes on from there. But will mostly stay within season one, with a few different things happening. There is alot alot of Kate/Sawyer, Charlie/Claire, Shannon/Boone, ect. For those of your who feel like you've read this fic before, that's because you probably have. I started this fic last year and never finished it. It ended up being deleted on my old account without my knowledge, so I am rewriting it now.  
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**Chapter 1 **

Bumping and shaking. Chaos everywhere. People screaming and praying to the heavens. Babies crying. People being thrown down the aisles. The front of the plane going downward. It all seemed so surreal.

All Emily could think about was not wanting to die here. Next to him. The man she'd hated all of her life. The man who'd taken off and married some other woman when she was two, leaving she and her mother, and then showing up three years later, and all of a sudden she was spending every other weekend with him and his new family. The man who'd hit the final nail in her coffin when he sided with her mother on being sent to an all girls boarding school in Australia.

This man sitting next to her was her father. She knew she should be telling him that she loved him. That she was sorry for everything she'd done over the years and how she'd acted out. Being kicked out of boarding school after boarding school. But instead she said nothing to him. She just looked ahead, closed her eyes, and waited to die..

The plane split in half, and her section went down as the other dropped off from behind her. She felt a thump beside her, and felt next to her, but felt only emptiness. The realization took a few moments to register, but she knew what had happend. Her father's seat had been ripped out of her plane. He was gone, and soon she would be too..


	2. Not Dead Yet

**Chapter 2 **

Emily rubs up and down her arm that had been wounded from the crash. She looks down at the gash that ran all the way up her forearm. It wasn't bleeding as much now, but now  
and then she could feel blood trickle down on her leg. She was starting to feel weak, which worried her. She remembered an episode of ER she saw once where some woman had  
this wound and everyone thought she was fine because she wasn't losing alot of blood. Then she passed out from blood loss. This worried her a great deal. The last thing that she wanted was to pass out on some deserted island with no help coming. It worried her even more that she didn't feel any pain.

She quickly snaps out of her thoughts when someone shouts out in pain. The sound was coming from underneathe a blue tarp about two hundred feet or so away. A man was  
screaming at another man who was trying to bandage a wound on his leg. This other man was obviously a doctor, and if he wasn't, he was doing a wonderful impersonation of one.

"Ow! What the hell are you doing?! That's my leg you son of a bitch. Be careful." shouts Sawyer.

"Look, can we just get through this? There are alot of other people that need my help. Hold still so I can wrap this tight enough." Jack says, letting out a sigh.

Emily walks over to the tent and stands behind Jack. "Are you a doctor?"

Jack holds his hand up, finishing Sawyer's leg. "I am. Hold on a second." He turns back to her, "What's the pro-" Jack stops, looking at her arm.

"It looks alot worse than it feels. I don't feel anything actually. Is that normal?"

Jack moves aside for her to sit down, "It's not a good thing, no. It usually means that you've lost alot of blood. How long have you been conscious?"

Emily shakes her head, "I don't know. Maybe an hour? I can't say for sure."

"Why didn't your parents send you over here sooner?" asks Jack, beggining to wipe the blood away with a towel and wrapping her arm with gauze.

She looks out at the water, "I was on the plane alone. No parents here. Every teenagers dream until you're stranded on an island."

Sawyer cracks a smile, but Jack could tell that she was being serious. "Hell I would have done damn near anything to get rid of my parents at- what are you like twelve?"

Emily rolls her eyes at the blonde, Southern man. She had sized him up the minute she saw him under the tarp as an over-confident, asshole who thought he was God's gift to  
women everywhere. She'd known guys like that her whole life. She'd been with guys like that, and had told herself long ago to give all of them the cold shoulder. This was no exception. "Four years ago, Tex."

"Touche." Sawyer retorts, flexing his leg.

Jack stands up, "Ok, I have to go and get some more gauze for that arm. I'll be back."

She nods as he walks down the beach, stopping to help someone on the way.

"He's not much of a Doc if you ask me. But I've always hated anything having to do with hospitals on principle so I may not be the best judge." says Sawyer.

Emily could feel tears rising as her thoughts shifted elsewhere.

"Hey. You ok? You're not gonna pass out or nothing.." asks Sawyer, looking at her.

"I'm fine."

For some strange reason, Sawyer couldn't help but feel sorry for this kid. She didn't have her parents on the island and had probably never been on her own in her life. She was probably scared out of her mind. "Someone will come. I wouldn't worry about it. They always track planes. Someone's going to notice that we're missing"

She stands and starts running down the beach.

Jack returns a few minutes later with Kate who was helping him carry medical supplies. He looks around, "Where's the kid?"

Sawyer shrugs, "She took off."

"And you let her?" says Jack, putting the supplies down.

"Didn't have much of a choice, Doc. She didn't explain herself. Besides, I ain't her Daddy. It's none of my business."

Jack turns to Kate when he hears a man call for him under the tarp. "Would you find her while I take care of him? I'm worried about her arm. She was bleeding pretty badly."

Kate nods, putting her bundle of supplies down. "Sure, what does she look like?"

Jack closes his eyes, trying to remember. He'd seen so many people in the past two hours it was hard to keep track. Everyone's faces seemed to run together. "Sixteen, small set, medium length blonde hair.. She had on some kind of a uniform with a plaid skirt and a long, white blouse. She should be easy to spot. I haven't seen many kids that age around the beach."

Sawyer smiles, "What do you know, Freckles? He's a doctor and a cop. Aren't we lucky?"

Kate gives him a once over and turns to leave. "It's Kate. I'll bring her back after I find her. She probably didn't go far."

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Emily throws rocks into the ocean angerily, trying to keep from losing her mind. She doesn't even look up when someone sits beside her on the shore. "Hi." It was a woman's voice.

"I'm Kate. Jack sent me to find you. He needs to finish treating your arm."

"Who's Jack?" Emily asks.

Kate giggles, "The doctor. What's your name?"

She wipes a tear from her cheek. She hated crying in front of anyone. She wanted to kick herself in the ass right there. "Emily. Emily McCallister. Look, I just want to be left alone, ok? My arm's fine- so.. It doesn't even hurt."

Kate nods, "I get it. I like to be alone too. Most of time actually. Other than your arm, you don't look ok. I know you're probably scared. So am I. Everyone is."

"I'm not scared." Emily snaps, looking over at her.

Kate lowers her head, looking at the sand. This girl was tough. Much like herself. Kids that age shouldn't have to be that tough. Most of them hadn't had that many bad things happen to them yet. "I just meant, I know that this whole situation with the crash is scary. Not knowing if anyone's coming. But they will. I'm sure of it. It's just a matter of time before they find us out here."

"You don't anything about me."

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help. I'll leave you alone." Kate pushes herself off of the ground to stand up when Emily starts to speak.

"Before the crash my Dad picked me up from the seventh boarding school I've been in in the past four years. That's why I'm wearing this stupid uniform. This ugly, stupid, goddamn uniform.." She pulls off the long blouse and throws it in the water, revealing a white tank top underneathe.

Kate stays put on the sand and silent.

"We didn't talk in the car on the way to the airport. I didn't even look at him. I hated him. I've hated him for so long. I can't remember a time when I didn't. He left my Mother and me when I was two for another woman.. had another family within a year. I saw what it did to my Mother everyday and it made me sick just thinking about it. I was sitting next to him on the plane when it crashed. I didn't look at him once. Not once. Not even when his seat blew out the back of the plane and he wasn't next to me anymore. I didn't look."

Kate puts her hand on Emily's shoulder, "I'm so sorry. Emily- I'm sorry." Kate hesitates for a moment for what she was going to say next. It had been awhile since she'd opened up to someone about her past. "I know how that feels. Hating someone you're supposed to love because of what they've done to you in the past. I know."

Emily looks at Kate, trying with all of her might not to stop crying. She'd always thought that crying was a sign of weakness. She hated feeling weak. "Why do I feel guilty? I shouldn't feel guilty."

Kate shakes her head, "No, sweetie, no. It wasn't your fault that the plane crashed. It's not your fault that he's dead. Not even close."

"But I didn't say anything! I could have said something. God, I could have looked at him when the plane was going down. Told him I loved him. Something. Anything. He- he tried to grab my hand when the turbulence started, but I wouldn't hold it. Now I don't have anyone. I'm out here alone."

"There's something else we have in common. So am I. I wasn't traveling with anyone. So I guess we're both alone. Maybe we can keep eachother company so we won't feel like that."

Emily didn't need a friend. Sure, she'd always made friends easily. She was always the life of the party and willing to try anything twice. But she never needed friends. She was always better when she went it alone. But Kate seemed different. She didn't seem to judge like so many other people did. "So, this is like a little sister program?"

Kate laughs, pulling her hair back in a ponytail. "No. Just someone a little older who has your back."

"Ok. You seem cool enough I guess." Emily looks behind Kate, seeing Sawyer limping down the beach towards them. She rolls her eyes. "Great, just what I need. For him of all people to see me crying like an idiot." She quickly wipes her eyes with the end of her shirt.

Kate looks back, seeing Sawyer approaching. "Should you be walking around?"

"The Doc released me. Even if he didn't I still would have left. I do what I want, Freckles. First of the many interesting things about me I'm sure you're interested in hearing." Sawyer says, standing next to Kate.

Kate looks back to Emily, giving her an 'oh please' expression.

"He wanted me to see if you'd found the kid yet. Which you have."

Emily stands up, "I don't need anyone to look at my arm. I'm fine. It's wrapped enough. This damn bandage is cutting off the circulation. And for the record, I have a name. Emily."

Sawyer puts his hands up. "Excuse me, Princess. Do what you want then. Just trying to be a helpful citizen since it looks like we're going to be on this damn island for awhile. Knowing the good old cop boys the way that I do they'll find us sometime next year. Perfect."

Kate balances herself on the sand, when Sawyer grabs her hand to help her up. "I've got it."

"Damn. You two sisters or cousins or something?" Sawyer asks, taking a step back from Kate.

Emily walks past Sawyer, "No, we're just skilled in the art of smelling bullshit and you wreak of it."

Sawyer turns and watches her walk away. "You didn't have to take the blouse off for me, Princess! I stick to women my own age!" he shouts after her.

She gives him the finger and keeps walking.

Sawyer shrugs, following Kate back to camp. "Figures. I've never been good with kids."

"I'm shocked. What did you say your name was?" Kate asks.

Sawyer smiles, "You can call me anything you want. How's that?"

"I'm Kate."

"Alright, Freckles. I'm Sawyer."

"Nice to meet you, Sawyer."


	3. Sunbathing & Boredom

**Chapter 3**

Shannon Rutherford was like most of the girls that Emily had met while in various boarding schools. Wealthy. Confident. Worldly but Clueless. And most of all, completely oblivious to everyone around her. But for some reason, Emily had been sitting there for the past hour talking with her as she sunbathed. Mostly because she wanted sunscreen, and Shannon was the only one on the island who seemed to have any. She'd already asked the pregnant girl, Claire, who seemed nice enough, and she didn't have anything.

Claire had since joined Emily and Shannon, which consisted of watching Shannon sunbathe and listening to her talk about herself.

"So anyway, co-ed isn't all that great. I would have rather been in an all girl's academy. Sure, you can get away with having a good time with the guys there, but who wants to have sex with a guy who gets a hard on from playing a computer game? The merchandise was just plain sad. At least in London it was. Usually English guys are hot property. Just not at St. Catherine's." Shannon rambles, turning onto her stomach.

Claire looks over at the guy who keeps staring at Shannon. He was going through clothes in luggage. "Is that guy your boyfriend? The one who keeps looking over here?"

Emily looks over at him, sheilding the sun from her eyes. She hadn't even noticed him before now. Go figure. "He's kind of cute in an Abercrombie and Fitch sort of way."

Shannon pushes her sunglasses onto her head, "God no. That's Boone. My brother. God's freakin' gift to humanity. Technically he's my stepbrother. His mother married my father.  
She's a nightmare. I hate her like poison. Total bitch. I'm sure you know the type."

"Pushy, rich socialite who cares more about her charity schedule than her own kids?" inquires Emily.

Shannon lies back down, "There you go. So, how old did you say you were?"

"Sixteen. Seventeen in January." answers Emily, applying more sunscreen to her shoulders.

Shannon laughs, "I was so crazy when I was sixteen. It was a blast. I miss it. Being a grown up isn't all it's cracked up to be. Having to face the realities of the real world sucks. You spend all of this time when you're younger wishing you were older. But when it happens, you regret wanting it so bad."

Claire touches her stomach, "Tell me about it." she says sadly.

"What do you guys think that noise in the jungle was last night? It sounded like some kind of an animal." Emily says.

"I don't even want to know. Let's just hope it doesn't find it's way to the beach." Claire says.

Boone walks towards the three girls, holding two shirts in his hand. "We're going through some of the luggage. I see you found your bag. We could use some help."

"I'm busy, Boone. Go back to being the boy scout. You're wasting your time anyway. They're coming." Shannon says, without looking at him.

Emily looks over at her, "You don't know that. Who says they even know where they are. We don't even know who they are."

"Shan, you've been sitting on your ass for the past two hours." says Boone.

Emily stands up, not wanting to get in the middle of a brother/sister brawl and had had enough of Shannon for one day. She dusts herself off and turns to Boone. "I'll help. It's too hot out here for me anyway."

"What do I call you?" asks Boone.

She extends her hand, "Emily."

"I'm Boone. The brother of 'Selfish Bitch Who Won't Contribute' over there." he says, loudly.

"Fuck you." Shannon mumbles, turning onto her stomach.

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The next day Jack, Kate, and Charlie (the English guy from some band Emily had never heard of) had gone off to find the tranciever in the cockpit of the plane. Supposedly, they could call for help from an oncoming plane or an airport. Emily had asked to go (she has nothing better to do), but was shotdown by both Jack and Kate because of the strange noises from the jungle that everyone heard the night before. They said it was too dangerous and that she'd be safer at the camp with the others. So she'd been spending most of her time watching Boone treat the injured survivors. He seemed to be the only person actually doing something useful. She did what she could to help him, gathering towels and various things from medical kits that Jack had thrown together on the first day, but he was doing most of the work. All of this waiting was starting to make her nuts. Waiting to be rescued. Waiting to be eaten alive by whatever was in the jungle. Waiting for anything.

And it seemed like everytime that Emily made camp somewhere on the beach, or simply sat down to rest because of the heat, Sayid wasn't far away. Even at night when she'd lie down to go to sleep, he'd always set up camp for himself within watching distance of her, and when she'd wake up, he'd still be there. Though, he'd never spoken more than two words to her. At first, she thought he was following her for some reason or another. But after much confusion and frustration, she broke down and asked Hurley what Sayid's deal was.

Hurley stared at her blankly, "Dude, Jack didn't tell you?"

"If he told me anything why would I be asking you?" she asks, arms crossed over her chest.

Hurley explained that Sayid had been enlisted by Jack to keep an eye out for her while he and Kate were away. She found it a little insulting. He'd known her for two days and had already come to the conclusion that she couldn't take care of herself? Typical. Most of the adults in her life came to that conclusion quickly about her. But they'd always been wrong. Emily had been taking care of herself for most of her life.

But, at least now she knew who to ask when she wanted to know something. Hurley was quite the talker and seemed to know everything that was going on with everybody on the island. He was also a card player, which worked to Emily's advantage. Poker was her only source of steady income in school. She made over a thousand dollars at each school she was sent to. She'd already beaten Hurley nine times until his pride got to him and he called it quits. He owed her over seven hundred dollars, which she would probably never see.

Out of boredom, she'd asked Sawyer if he wanted to play her one afternoon. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth, looking up at her from the piece of paper he was holding. "I'd love nothing more Princess, but I'm busy. Maybe later. Go ask the other kid. I think his name's Will.. or Walt.. something like that." She'd seen him reading that piece of paper constantly since the crash. It looked like some kind of a letter. But she knew better than to ask him about it. It wasn't any of her business anyway.

When Jack, Kate, and Charlie returned, a fight broke out between Sawyer and Sayid. Walt had found a pair of handcuffs in the jungle and showed them to Michael, who in turn showed them to everyone else, and things got out of hand quickly. To make a long story short, Sawyer was convinced that Sayid was the one who was wearing the handcuffs on the plane, and that he was responsible for the plane crashing. Emily thought that that was stretching. Aside from Sayid's race (which he couldn't help), there was no evidence that he was the reason for the crash or the one wearing the handcuffs. Emily stood on the sidelines next to Shannon and Boone watching the fight. She of course couldn't do anything about this seeing as though she'd probably get pummelled herself if she were to step in. No one else seemed to be doing anything. Per usual. It wasn't until Jack showed up and he and Michael pulled them off of eachother that they stopped.

At least the tranciever was found, and Sayid may be able to fix it so they could call someone for help. But that seemed a bit too easy.


	4. When Emily Met Derek

**Chapter 4**

The day Claire passed out, Jack disapeared into the jungle rambling about some man watching him, and someone stole all of the water, Emily had had just about as much of the island drama as she could stand. She decided to go and look for some firewood for that night. She passed Sayid and Hurley setting up some tarps.

"Where are you off to?" Sayid asked.

Emily stops walking, "I don't know. I thought I'd get some firewood for tonight. Jack said that he'd chopped some and left it in the jungle. He couldn't carry it all."

"Dude, you're actually volenteering to get firewood?" Hurley laughs.

She shrugs, "Nothing else to do."

Sayid turns back to the tarp, "Don't go too far into the jungle. It's getting dark."

She nods, continuing her walk down the beach. She starts walking along the edge of the jungle when something rustles in the bushes. "Hello?" she calls.

Nothing. She walks towards the noise and stops when she sees someone knelt down looking through an open suitcase. Not just looking, but literally throwing clothes behind him while looking. "What the hell are you doing?"

"None of your business." he says.

"You shouldn't be rummaging through other people's suitcases. Especially a dead person's."

He turns to look at her, "How do you know this isn't my suitcase?"

"I don't."

He turns back to the suitcase, throwing it aside and opening another one. "I need a cigarette. I ran out the day after the crash. It's been five days."

Emily leans against a tree, looking up at the sky. It was getting darker by the minute. "Did you ask Sawyer?"

"Who?"

Emily feels a smile spread across her face. "The loud, Southern guy that's always smoking?"

"Him? Yeah, I asked him. He told me to screw off. I didn't have anything to trade. That he wanted."

"I could talk to him for you if you want. He'd probably just give them to me."

He laughs, "I'll bet he would."

Emily looks at him confused, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He turns to look at her, "It means that unfortunately I don't have your assets to trade with."

Who did this guy think he was? She couldn't believe this. "He's old enough to be my father."

"That's usually how girls like them, isn't it?" he asks. A cocky smile spread across his face.

Emily could feel her blood pressure rising more and more by the second. "You're.. you're disgusting. I'm leaving. Find the cigarettes yourself. I was just trying to help you out."

"What are you doing out here anyway?" he says.

She whips around, her face blistering hot because she was so mad. "What? How is that.."

"..Any of my business? It's not. It's just a question. I've never seen you anywhere alone is all. Sitting alone. But never completely alone. The Iraqi's usually somewhere around."

"Sayid. His name is Sayid.. and I go places on the beach alone. What do you do, watch me on the beach like some kind of a stalker?" She should have left then, but something made her stay there with him. She had no clue what. "I could ask you the same thing. You couldn't look through suitcases on the beach or in the fusel lodge?"

"Sawyer.. or whatever the hell that jackass' name is has pretty much taken everything."

That was true. Sawyer had been going through everyone's luggage since the crash. He hid everything in various places around the island. Mostly in his tent. "So, I hear you're like the only kid on the island without any parents that were in the crash."

"So?"

"You looked older. I didn't think you looked young enough to.."

She cuts him off, "I'm sixteen.

He throws his hands up in surrender. "Alright, ok. You're sixteen. I've got it. Why so tense?"

"Maybe I'm just sick and tired of people repeating my age over and over again. It's like a thing around here."

"Well, they don't think you can take care of yourself. Which, let's face it, you probably can't.  
You're a kid. It comes with the territory."

"Speak for yourself! What are you a year older than me?"

He moves closer to her until he's only a few inches away from her face. "Sorry, Sweetheart. Nineteen almost twenty. I stopped being a kid over a year ago. Guess I'm too old for you, huh? But hey, look on the bright side. We can still be friends."

He tugs at the bottom of her tank top and she shoves him backwards. He catches himself. "Touch me again and you'll get a preview of how friendly I am."

"I'm Derek."

She sighs and couldn't help but smile. "Wow, you're.. why am I still here? I'm going back to the beach." She turns, looking at her surroundings, and realizes that she has gone too far out and has no clue where she is.

She turns back to Derek who's gone back to the suitcases. "I thought you were leaving?"

"I'm trying. I just- I don't know how to get back."

He nods his head, "That's a predicament."

Emily rolls her eyes, "Look, can you just walk me back to the beach?"

Derek looks back at her, "Are you serious?"

"No, I'm lying just so you'll walk with me. It's part of my clever plan to spend more time with you."

"Well in that case.." Derek stands and picks up his backpack, "Let's go."

"Forget it." Emily says, turning to leave.

Derek grabs the back of her arm, "No, I'll walk you back. You'll either get lost or eaten by whatever it is that's in this damn jungle, and then I'll have to save you and blah blah blah.."

She pulls her arm out of his grip, "What did I say about touching me?"

"Look, I don't need you turning up missing or dead on my conscience. Plus, what I really don't need is an Iraqui, some Southern, chainsmoking jackass, and a doctor with a God complex after me. You're not worth all of that trouble, Sweetheart."

"Thank you and my name isn't sweetheart, it's Emily."

"Can I call you Emmy?"

She starts walking ahead of him, "Not if you expect a response."

As soon as they started to walk again, a sound filled the air. Emily stopped in her tracks and felt the breath leave her body. It was the same sound everyone had heard from a few nights ago..


End file.
